April 08, 2006 archives
April 08, 2006
Spiderman 3 wallpaper and screensaver ready
Joyce L Chow & William Hoehne April 8 2006
MBN
www.montebubbles.com for more MBN news
BROADCAST NEWS COMING SOON VIA PODCAST
MONTEBUBBLISM: Why do people feel they have to cheat to win, is winning worth it?
ENTERTAINMENT, ART, FASHION, TECHNOLOGY
Spiderman 3 news
EDITORIAL: ESTABLISHED MEDIA VS ONLINE
FOR MTV, MOBILE IS THE 'HOLY GRAIL'
BUDDING FILMMAKERS GET THEIR OWN REALITY SHOW
LATEST PLATFORM FOR STORYTELLING: GOOGLE EARTH
TIME INC. LAYS OFF 250
Grip News
Still basically recall prime time broadcast commercials the same way.
MEREDITH VIEIRA to co-host "The Today Show
You CAN Take it With You
Sports & Auto News
Oakland & Dodger Baseball
DOD
DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Jackson Hewitt to Honor Army Guard Hero
NEWS
Southwest Airlines Celebrates Ten Years of 'LUV' in Orlando
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ENTERTAINMENT, ART, FASHION, TECHNOLOGY
SPIDERMAN 3 Screen saver and wallpaper now available at Sony.com
EDITORIAL
Once again today we ran into the ever growing wall that is forming between established forms of media and the internet.
Never would CNN be asked to show their business license to someone to give them coverage of an event but we were. We have been asked to submit profit and lost statements, number of paid employees, who our investors are and on and on.
We have been to one conference after another where we have been told of the bright future that the internet has before it, how it will reshape the world in news and entertainment.
Unfortunately lines are being drawn in the sand in established companies against online services in their own companies.
In one to be unnamed media giant that has a major online presence we are welcome only to events put on by one portion of the company. In another the online side itself doesn’t want online people covering studio events even though they send out material asking for people to come cover the events.
Pr companies inside themselves are divided whom should be allowed to come to press events, some allow others refuse.
This division is not shrinking but in effect growing larger with each day as the net grows, but how long can there be growth where there is so much division.
William Hoehne
FOR MTV, MOBILE IS THE 'HOLY GRAIL'
Network Has Become World’s Largest Content Provider for Cell phones
A sign of how important wireless is becoming to content companies, MTV Networks Music President Van Toffler delivered this morning’s keynote address at CTIA Wireless 2006 in Las Vegas. He was joined on stage at the end of the presentation by hip-hop artist LL Cool J, who chimed in on the wireless industry’s importance to the music business.
The short-form nature of wireless, Mr. Toffler said, allows MTV to “go back to our A.D.D. roots to deliver content that we grew up on,” such as music videos and “sharts,” an MTV phrase for short-form animated and live-action video that tells a story in five- to 15-second art breaks (talk about attention-deficit disorder). He talked about using wireless to extend TV programs and brands, to air unique made-for mobile programming and find new revenues in the music industry.
In a relatively short time, MTV Networks has become the world’s largest content provider for mobile phones. It works with 63 providers worldwide and has access to more than a billion cell phones, Mr. Toffler said. In the U.S., it is the first content provider to generate more than 1 million streams in a month on Verizon’s V Cast service.
Later this summer, MTV will introduce a new service that creates mobile communities around user-generated content. He didn’t elaborate in his keynote, but several weeks ago told Advertising Age that MTV plans to allow users to create their own ringtones and other wireless content, which they can then upload to their phones.
“The mobile handset is the holy grail of electronic devices,” he said. While global youth spend $16 billion on music, they spend $106 billion on mobile. Teens rank it more desirable than laptop computers, MP3 players and video-game consoles.
Already, user-generated content is making its way to the phone. Mr. Toffler showed a clip, previously aired at an MTV upfront presentation, of a user-generated music video set to Fallout Boy’s “Sugar We’re Going Down.” It’s a spoof on commonly mistaken song lyrics and MTV found it on the Web. When they contacted Andrew, the New Jersey boy who created it, he hung up on them, since he didn’t believe that MTV was calling him.
“We’re going to do more ‘Videos by Andrew’ on all of our platforms,” Mr. Toffler said.
At CTIA, MTV Networks also announced wireless applications for Comedy Central and VH1 that let users access the network’s content from a hub on their phones -- think video-on-demand for the small screen. Sprint is the first to carrier to offer the service. The two networks also launched made-for-mobile series: VH1’s “A Dingo Ate My Video,” with puppets commenting on music videos, and Comedy Central’s “The Clip Joint,” featuring New York standup comics.
Right now, MTV Network’s U.S. mobile offerings are done through carriers and typically require consumers to foot the bill. But supplying consumers directly with ad-supported mobile content appears inevitable for many advertisers and media companies that want to exploit the relationship consumers have with their phones. It's a touchy subject for companies like MTV, which counts telecoms and wireless carriers as major ad buyers -- it may not want to bite the hand that feeds it by bypassing them to reach consumers.
BUDDING FILMMAKERS GET THEIR OWN REALITY SHOW
Winner of Burnett Project Will Get to Work With Steven Spielberg
Consumer-driven content is about to gain the ultimate showcase. Fox has commissioned a new reality show from producer Mark Burnett that gives a prospective filmmaker the chance to direct a movie. The prize? The winner gets to work with Steven Spielberg.
The show, “On The Lot,” will air two nights a week on Fox next season and is a partnership between Mr. Burnett ("Survivor" and "The Apprentice"), Mr. Spielberg, the network and DreamWorks Television.
Most notably, the show will follow the “American Idol” model in which the public gets to determine the winners. Fox will conduct a nationwide “Idol”-type search to come up with a group of 16 contestants. Once the team arrives in Hollywood, one member will be nominated as director the others will help produce. Each week contestants will try a different genre and will then be judged by a panel of industry experts before ultimately being judged by the public. The show is being described as part “Project Greenlight,” which aired on HBO, and part “Project Runway,” a show on the Bravo network.
The show’s twice-a-week broadcast schedule is another strategy borrowed from “Idol.” The first night will be called "The Film Premiere" and the second night "Box Office."
"For me, like any person who wants to be a filmmaker, the opportunity to work hand-in-hand with Steven Spielberg is a dream come true," Mr. Burnett said in a statement. The uber reality producer went on to say that "we're going to make an incredible show about looking for the next great filmmaker by mining the growing segment of the public making their own content, and giving them the chance of a lifetime."
Peter Liguori, entertainment president at Fox, said: “In this age of digital cameras, cellphones with cameras and the Internet -- with hundreds of thousands of people creating their own movies at home every day -- the concept of this series is completely relevant, tapping into a cultural phenomenon as it happens."
LATEST PLATFORM FOR STORYTELLING: GOOGLE EARTH
National Geographic, Discovery Marry Pictures, Stories and Video to Online Globe
While there’s still no clear evidence that Google will be monetizing its Google Earth product, the company is busily inking partnerships with media brands such as Discovery Networks and National Geographic to pump up its interactive-map offering into a full-on multimedia educational tool.
The downloadable application, which launched in June, lets users zoom in and fly over 3-D images of buildings and landscapes and tilt and rotate the imagery. In December, Jonathan Rosenberg, Google’s VP-product management, told Ad Age he saw the service as having video-on-demand applications and was ready to welcome partnerships with cable networks. Now those appear to have bloomed.
When a Google Earth zooms in to check out a particular destination, say the Grand Canyon, a Discovery icon will pop up. Clicking on that icon sends a user to a Discovery-hosted video player that with a video about the landmark.
Early on, Google Earth approached National Geographic about creating a layer within Google Earth that would allow users to view National Geographic photos, videos and stories when zooming into a location. If an area has a yellow border, it indicates National Geographic content can be found there.
For instance, in Africa, the society sponsored photographer Mike Fay’s 2004 flyover of the continent. Each entry of Mr. Fay’s accounts and aerial photos of what occurred in that place during the flyover is marked with a red airplane on Google Earth, allowing viewers to follow his journey. The society has plans to even more extensively use Google Earth as a way to keep readers and users abreast of ongoing expeditions through linked blogs, photos, audio reports and video. Mr. Fay, currently in Chad following a herd of Saharan elephants, plans to blog about his trip and upload photos and video to Google Earth.
The Discovery partnership, which went live last night with 40 videos about national parks, will add another 200 links to videos about destinations around the world within six weeks. The arrangement is a purely promotional one for Google Earth. But Discovery is selling pre-roll video advertising on the videos and may, in fact, add transactional opportunities, such as selling branded downloadable audio tours to a particular geographic area or nearby landmark. So, for example, a Google Earth user zooming in on London’s Trafalgar Square may be able to watch a video about the area as well as download an audio guide to the nearby National Gallery. There is no revenue-sharing agreement and the partnership is non-exclusive.
Discovery is in talks with other mapping portals similar to Google Earth and Google is free to add other video-content creators to Earth.
The partnership complements several of Discovery’s upcoming programs, said Don Bher, senior exec VP-strategy and development, such as the fourth-quarter airing of “Discovery Atlas” programs, profiling China, Italy, Brazil and India. “This is about the ability to develop a fluid continuum of conversation [with viewers],” he said.
For Google, it begs the question, Just what is the business purpose behind Google Earth? There are many suppositions—from Google’s mandate to disseminate information to the masses to the more sinister-sounding goal of encouraging users to download Google’s various applications to their desktops so it can better monitor behavior and improve the contextual matching of its advertising.
When asked specifically about the company’s plan for Google Earth during a February interview, Tim Armstrong, Google’s VP-advertising, said: “Google Earth specifically has opened itself out and not from an advertiser standpoint, but from a user-mash-up point of view. ... Google Earth is something that has no specific plan right now for monetization and may never have that. But it’s something that the ad community should be interested in because it’s a wonderful opportunity.”
TIME INC. LAYS OFF 250
Time Inc. eliminated another 250 jobs today in its latest, largest and, perhaps, last round of cutbacks. The mid-level and junior-level workers shown the door almost all came from the business side of operations at a long list of titles.
"We do believe this is the vast majority of reductions for the foreseeable future," said Ali Zelenko, a Time Inc. spokeswoman. "As Time Inc. continues to evolve from a magazine publisher to a multiplatform media company, we're continuing to look at our cost base and how to run our business more efficiently and effectively. In doing so, unfortunately, we've had to eliminate a number of positions."
"But it's not just about cost cutting," Ms. Zelenko added. "We are allocating our assets and investing in areas of higher growth."
Under Chairman-CEO Ann S. Moore, Time Inc. has slashed staff since December, when the publisher eliminated about 105 jobs, including those belonging to some of the company's highest-ranking and longest-serving executives. In February, it cut another 100 or so positions, mostly from the editorial side.
While Time Inc.'s employee rolls remain huge -- about 12,000 people work there, down from 13,000 with the cutbacks and the sale of the book group -- the company is reallocating assets to promising areas like Web operations. But new positions will not make up for the jobs already subtracted. The company, for example, is only adding about 50 people to its Web operations this year.
Although the positions eliminated today affected most corners of the publishing side, it also included further reorganization of the public relations team. Positions were consolidated at the entertainment group, which includes People and Entertainment Weekly, and the women's lifestyle and luxury group, which includes Real Simple, In Style, Parenting and Essence.
Grip News
For over 36 years, Matthews Studio Equipment has been supplying, inventing and re-inventing high-quality grip and lighting control equipment for all phases of the television and motion picture production industries, be it high-profile feature or television productions in the United States or as far as China, documentaries or music videos that have taken their creators around the world, still photography shoots and more. Their versatile grip equipment fits the needs of the most sophisticated HDTV and film cameras packages as well as the simplest DV or still shoots.
This year, Matthews is proud to announce four new products for the film and video market; Colornetts, Road Flags, Mini Max and a new set of improved Crank stands.
COLORNETT. Fabrics that create shifts in color temperature as light passes through them. A single gold Colornett will lower the Kelvin temperature of the source by 400 degrees, a double 600 degrees. A single silver COLORNETT will raise the Kelvin temperature by 200 degrees, a double 350 degrees. They can be used a standard overhead, created in custom sizes, and serve as scrims to allow certain fixtures to be isolated and color temperature manipulated in that particular instrument.
. Fabrics that create shifts in color temperature as light passes through them. A single gold Colornett will lower the Kelvin temperature of the source by 400 degrees, a double 600 degrees. A single silver COLORNETT will raise the Kelvin temperature by 200 degrees, a double 350 degrees. They can be used a standard overhead, created in custom sizes, and serve as scrims to allow certain fixtures to be isolated and color temperature manipulated in that particular instrument.MINI MAX. A smaller version of MAX the MENACE ARM, MINI MAX allows the placement of fixtures where the POV does not allow stands or other lighting support. Whether it is a backlight, key light or top light, MINI MAX “flies in” – positions the fixture – and gets out of the way quickly. MINI MAX works well on uneven surfaces, even flights of stairs. MINI MAX’s novel characteristics open new dimensions in lighting techniques for cinematographers and still photographers alike.
. A smaller version of MAX the MENACE ARM, allows the placement of fixtures where the POV does not allow stands or other lighting support. Whether it is a backlight, key light or top light, “flies in” – positions the fixture – and gets out of the way quickly. works well on uneven surfaces, even flights of stairs. ’s novel characteristics open new dimensions in lighting techniques for cinematographers and still photographers alike.ROADFLAGS. Designed for today’s highly mobile, location shooter. ROADFLAGS offer large surface lighting modification in a convenient easy-to-use portable kit. The “slip on” fabric allows for fast setup and packing, while offering larger fabric sizes to create multiple lighting effects. Shipping is easy, with ROADFLAGS. Not only do they break down to slip into a portable pack, additional fabrics can be sent to remote locations in small air-packs instead of bulky boxes.
. Designed for today’s highly mobile, location shooter. offer large surface lighting modification in a convenient easy-to-use portable kit. The “slip on” fabric allows for fast setup and packing, while offering larger fabric sizes to create multiple lighting effects. Shipping is easy, with . Not only do they break down to slip into a portable pack, additional fabrics can be sent to remote locations in small air-packs instead of bulky boxes.VATOR IIs. To give grips and gaffers an extra edge, Matthews has redesigned their VATOR family of stands to be more grip friendly. They now have only seven moving parts, a new heavy-duty nickel/chrome protection, and a black powder coated surface, reducing reflection and glare. The loading height has been lowered and the raising and lowering system has been redesigned to eliminate the need for weight on the risers.
. To give grips and gaffers an extra edge, Matthews has redesigned their VATOR family of stands to be more grip friendly. They now have only seven moving parts, a new heavy-duty nickel/chrome protection, and a black powder coated surface, reducing reflection and glare. The loading height has been lowered and the raising and lowering system has been redesigned to eliminate the need for weight on the risers.“Everything we’ve done this year translated into what our clients need,” says Robert Kulesh, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Matthews. “We’re making our equipment faster and more efficient. Over the years, we’ve learned from experience, what is needed by the industry and have done our best to make our family of products to fit those demands.
“At Matthews, our goal is to provide ‘technology that complements your imagination.”
Still basically recall prime time broadcast commercials the same way.
NEW NETWORK-BACKED RESEARCH STUDY says it doesn't matter whether viewers have a DVR or not -- they still basically recall prime time broadcast commercials the same way. In a study sponsored by the four big networks, New York-based researcher Millward Brown says ad recall and ad recognition is virtually the same among DVR and non-DVR owners. This is the latest in a series of recent research pieces coming from the networks that aim to provide hope that the 30-second commercial is not dead - or at least not that bad when exposed to DVR homes
A key dynamic of the study is something that has been suggested before, says David Poltrack, executive vice president and chief research officer for CBS Corp. and president of CBS Vision, which analyzes emerging technologies and media consumption: "There is [an] amount of attentiveness that is required for fast forwarding, and because many ads run frequently, viewers are generally familiar with those commercials." Millward Brown says DVR users are unlikely to be distracted by activities that consume non-DVR owners.
The study revealed that ad recall and retention was at a 90 index. "It's not a half or a quarter [the recall and retention rate] that was previously thought," said Poltrack. The recall level was consistent across the three categories covered -- Cars, Cell Phones, Fast Food Restaurants --with movie advertising at a slightly higher recall level among DVR owners.
The study findings are backed up by earlier DVR findings -- that DVR owners are heavy TV users and that they tend to be younger. All of which has led to an actual increase of viewership on some shows -- and thus more attention to commercials.
DVR penetration is about 9 percent of U.S. television households, a number that is expected to jump to 18 percent by the end of the year, says Nielsen. Says Poltrack: "Top shows are getting 5 percent more audience. DVRs actually enhance viewership, and now we see there is some commercial value. The debate is -- what is relative value in fast-forward mode versus live mode?"
CBS and Poltrack continue to be adamant that DVR usage be included in some form in the current upfront negotiations.
"While you are playing it back, and fast-forwarding, there is some value," said Poltrack. "We are not going to accept there is no value. It could be some discounted value. I don't think we are going to obtain a specific value prior to the upfront, but we hope to come to agreement in negotiations."
Jo Ann Ross, president of advertising sales for CBS, has said the DVR issue will come down to case-by-case negotiations during the upcoming upfront market, which will start in about six weeks.
MEREDITH VIEIRA to co-host "The Today Show
NBC'S HIRING OF MEREDITH VIEIRA to co-host "The Today Show" is now the next ripple in the wake of Katie Couric's bombshell move to CBS.
Vieira's move has been expected ever since the recent stories about Couric gained momentum. A co-host of "The View" and host of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?," Vieira will start in September. She's expected to give up her role with "The View," but retain her "Millionaire" gig.
The choice for NBC was an easy one--considering Vieira's experience working as a journalist for CBS News and ABC News, and her various other talk show experiences--most recently with "The View." She started at ABC News's in 1993, and later worked for the network "Turning Point" news magazine show as a chief correspondent.
You CAN Take it With You
Telephia, a provider of performance measurement information to the mobile industry, reports that roughly three million wireless subscribers in the U.S. streamed TV or played video content on their mobile devices in Q4 2005.
Younger mobile subscribers, age 18-24 have the highest penetration for mobile TV and video usage, securing a 3.3 percent rate, doubling since the beginning of 2005. Overall, men are more likely to stream TV and play video content on their wireless devices than women, showing a penetration rate of 1.8 percent or more than 3.5 million wireless subscribers during Q4 2005. Female mobile subscribers who accessed mobile TV and video content over their handsets had a rate of 1.2 percent in Q4 2005, equaling 2.5 million consumers, according to Telephia.
"During this early adopter stage, audience demographics play a significant role in directing mobile companies how to best develop mobile TV and video content offerings," said Kanishka Agarwal, Vice President of New Products, Telephia.
"The revenue stream for mobile TV and video content is very strong and shows upward promise. The combination of price, quality, diversity of content, and handsets capable of viewing content will be instrumental in the long-term growth," added Agarwal.
The report says that V CAST and MobiTV subscribers spend roughly $40 more per month as compared to non-TV subscribers. During Q4 2005, V CAST and MobiTV subscribers spent an average of $94 in total monthly charges in comparison to non-TV subscribers who had an average total monthly spend of $54.
Sports & Auto News
Oakland & Dodger Baseball
Oakland 5, Seattle 0 at Safeco Field
Oakland Record: (3-2)
Winning pitcher - Joe Blanton (1-0)
Losing pitcher - Felix Hernandez (0-1)
Los Angeles 5, Philadelphia 3 at Citizens Bank Park
Los Angeles Record: (2-2)
Winning pitcher - Brett Tomko (1-0)
Losing pitcher - Gavin Floyd (0-1)
SV - Danys Baez (2)
LAD HR - None None
PHI HR - P. Burrell (2) S. Fasano (1)
DOD
DoD Identifies Army Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier, who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Spc. Daniel L. Sesker, 22, of Ogden, Iowa, died in Bayji, Iraq on April 6, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV during combat operations. Sesker was assigned to the Army National Guard's Troop C, 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry in LeMars, Iowa
Jackson Hewitt to Honor Army Guard Hero
The first Jackson Hewitt Army National Guard "Heroes of the Year" award honoree, Sgt. Robert Smette of the North Dakota Army National Guard, will be honored in a ceremony at 1 p.m., on Tuesday, April 11 at the Army National Guard Readiness Center, 111 South George Mason Drive in Arlington, Va. Lt. Gen. Clyde Vaughn, the director of the Army National Guard, Michael Lister, president and chief executive officer of Jackson Hewitt, and Smette will be available for interviews. Jackson Hewitt's "Heroes of the Year" award provides the opportunity for military supporters to nominate a loved one, friend or neighbor, who serves in the Army National Guard, for this award. All "heroes" have the chance to have their faces featured on the No. 16 car to be driven by Greg Biffle in a 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race. Journalists need prior clearance to attend this event at the readiness center.
NEWS
Southwest Airlines Celebrates Ten Years of 'LUV' in Orlando
Southwest Airlines celebrates ten successful years serving the Orlando area! Customers traveling today will experience a festive birthday celebration complete with chocolates, caricature artist, prizes, and decorations. Rapid Reward Customers traveling today from Orlando will receive a birthday gift in the form of double Rapid Rewards Bonus Credits. To book travel for your Orlando vacation on Southwest Airlines, visit http://www.southwest.com/jp/res.shtml?src=PR_MCO_040706 "Southwest Airlines is the nation's low-fare leader, and we have been bringing those low fares to Orlando for ten wonderful years," said Greg Wells, Southwest Airline's Senior Vice President of Ground Operations. "We are Florida's largest intrastate carrier, and we couldn't do that without our Orlando-area Customers." Southwest Airlines began service to the Orlando International Airport on April 7, 1996, with 12 daily nonstop departures to seven cities. Today, Southwest operates 92 daily nonstop departures to 28 cities, with direct or connecting service to 26 additional cities. The airline has grown to capture a 19.73 percent market share, which makes it the number one airline in the market. Other noteworthy Orlando statistics: * In the third quarter of 2005 (the latest information from the DOT), Southwest transported more than 1.3 million Customers to or from the Orlando International Airport. * From third quarter 2004 to fourth quarter 2005, Southwest handled more than 5 million Customers at Orlando International Airport. * Orlando is Southwest's 10th busiest airport in terms of daily departures. * Traffic to the original nonstop cities served by Southwest from Orlando increased from 354,700 in fourth quarter 1995 (the quarter before Southwest started service) to 672,700 in fourth quarter 2004, an increase of 89.7 percent. * The average fare to the original nonstop cities served by Southwest from Orlando decreased from $112 in fourth quarter 1995, before Southwest started service in Orlando, to $93 in fourth quarter 2004 -- a decrease of 17 percent. "Our growth in Orlando has been phenomenal, and our 1,618 local Employees deserve the credit," Wells said. "We know it's the power of our People that keep our Customers flying with us, and our Orlando Employees work hard every day to make that happen." Southwest Airlines thanks the people and travelers of Orlando for a great decade and looks forward to many more years of growth and success in the city.
Orlando is a premiere vacation destination for SWA Vacations -- for great deals, go to http://www.swavacations.com . Southwest Airlines, the nation's largest airline in terms of domestic Customers boarded, currently serves 62 cities in 32 states. Southwest currently serves six cities in Florida: Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa Bay, Ft. Myers/Naples, West Palm Beach, and Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood. http://www.southwest.com SOURCE
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